On Rules (and why some of them are made to be broken)
by booksandreadingismylife
Summary: Percy loves rules. They've always made everything make sense and he doesn't understand why his family can't see that. Then things change. Audrey has always followed the rules. First in Hogwarts, and then afterwards. Then suddenly the rules are wrong. They have opposing approaches to the situation and really shouldn't fit together. They fall in love anyway. Part of "On Firebrands"


**On Rules (and Why Some of Them are Made to be Broken)**

Percy loves rules. They've always made everything make sense and he doesn't understand why his family can't see that. Then things change. And Percy's too deep in the Ministry and too well watched to back out now. But every Weasley is a troublemaker really (even if it's deep down and hard to see). And Percy knows that the best way for him to cause trouble is to be as exacting and precise as possible. (After all, who can criticise him for being as precise as his reputation describes him?)

Audrey has always followed the rules that were given to her. First in Hogwarts, and then afterwards. She's not a rebel. But then suddenly the rules are wrong. And Muggleborns like her are being hunted. It turns out there are lines she won't cross. And doing nothing is not an option. She'll do what she can. (And she would really like to know which idiot at the Ministry keeps sending back her forgeries with petty complaints that have nothing to do with the content)

They have opposing approaches to the situation and really shouldn't fit together. They fall in love anyway.

**Rules **pl. n. a set of prescribed guides for conduct or action

* * *

**A.N. - ****So, before we begin: Percy and Audrey are both bisexual/attracted to both men and women. If you don't like it then get over yourself. **

**Audrey was in Charlie's year at school and yes, that means the HPHM characters. I'm using them and their personalities (mostly) for simplicity because I can't be bothered to make up a whole new cast of characters for that year. What you need to know about this: the events of HPHM didn't happen and neither MC or their brother exist (or if they do they aren't significant to Audrey's Hogwarts experience), the Quidditch players from the SQ are not in Charlie's year and *mumble mumble* something something *mumble mumble* and therefore are not relevant to Audrey's experience either. **

**Audrey dated Tulip, they broke up because they were better off as friends. Percy dated Oliver, they actually didn't realise they'd broken up until several weeks after the fact (my poor oblivious dumb boys) and sort of shrugged and went on being best friends. **

**Audrey's parents: ok, before you go into this you need to know that Audrey's parents love her but they're very conservative and old fashioned (and also Conservative), and they fully expected her to ditch the wizarding world as soon as she finished schooling and get a nice proper degree at University. They're also quietly but firmly homophobic/biphobic/queerphobic or however you want to describe it. They are Not Happy when Audrey doesn't want to ditch her friends and doesn't want to ditch her girlfriend. They Strongly Disapprove of AUdrey having a girlfriend. They all have a huge argument which ends with Audrey storming out and not speaking to them again until she tries to convince them to move to avoid the DEs.**

**The reason I am mentioning this is because I know that there are a lot of people who have similar struggles with their parents, especially regarding their gender/sexuality. I'm lucky, I have amazing parents who are always there for me and who I know support me no matter what. I can't imagine not talking to them. A lot of people are not this lucky. And I know this is a difficult topic. I know that the way I've framed Audrey's relationship with her parents in this story could be seen as apologist for those kind of parents. I want to make it clear: I DO NOT SUPPORT OR CONDONE THESE KIND OF ACTIONS OR BELIEFS. I am not saying that it's ok. I am not saying it should be forgiven. Audrey has not forgiven her parents. She has simply decided that she doesn't hate them or want them to be brutally murdered for the "crime" of having a magical daughter. (Sidenote: Audrey's grandparents on both sides are actually all total sweethearts of the type that upon discovering a non-straight grandchild immediately look up and ask people what is and is not ok and how to support said grandchild and not accidentally offend or insult them. Audrey names one of her daughters after her grandmothers)**

**Last note: There is a lot going on behind the scenes that isn't mentioned here because the OotP and the DA are both operating with a 'cell' structure where not everyone knows about everyone else so that in the event someone is caught, they can't accidentally spill all the beans. Charlie's story will fill in some of these gaps. Others will remain.**

_** TRIGGER WARNING: minor references to severe violence and murder, minor reference to PTSD, minor reference to Depression in a background character, non-specific description of a character in shock, references to both canonical and non-canonical character deaths, references to sex (that doesn't actually take place). Death Eaters and Umbridge are their own warning.**_

* * *

**. . .**

It happens overnight.

But before that Percy walks into work to find out that Amelia Bones; Madam Bones who _runs_ the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who takes no shit from _anyone_, who _revolutionised_ magical law, the woman he's idolised for _years_; Amelia Bones, one of the last of her line, has been _murdered_. And he knows. He cannot hide from it anymore.

His family was right. He wanted to ignore it, wanted to pretend. He doesn't remember the first war. Not really. Just lots of nights with crying and fear and climbing into bed with Bill because Bill would always protect him. He called his parents fools because he thought they'd be safer if it wasn't true because they _didn't have to get involved_. He's known he was lying to himself since the Azkaban breakout (he listens to his family even when he pretends that he doesn't, and he heard Ron talking to Harry and Hermione about Black (and _Scabbers _for some reason) and how they were _writing_ to him. He never says a word about it because he'll protect his little brothers and his little sister with his last breath and if Ron was writing to a wanted fugitive then it had to be for a _reason_. He wasn't stupid). He won't go home. He can't admit he was wrong. He's too proud for that. But he starts acknowledging it when he sees Dad in the corridors, even if Dad ignores him. He talks to a few friends in the Admin Department and they agree to shuffle a few things around, so Dad gets more time off. No one says anything.

He gets a box of homemade fudge from Mum for his Birthday. He doesn't send it back. He lets Dad see him eating it in the lift but doesn't acknowledge anything else. He doesn't send cards or presents or anything as a late gift for Ginny's Birthday. Nor anything for Mum's or Bill's or Charlie's or Dad's or Ron's or the twins'. But he does go to Gringotts on a day he knows Bill doesn't work and asks the Goblins to transfer half his vault contents to his family's vault. He transfers money for every Birthday. He doesn't know if anyone in the family has noticed. If they have, they don't tell him.

Then, in mid-May, Percy gets an invitation to his brother's wedding. He's marrying Fleur Delacour. Percy remembers her. She was the Beauxbatons champion in the Triwizard Tournament. He'd had to be _very_ careful not to get caught in her allure. Beautiful _and_ talented. Just Bill's type. He sits and stares at the invitation long enough that Madam Hopkirk stops to ask if he's ok on her way to see Undersecretary Umbridge.

"Yes, fine." Percy flashes her a fake smile. "Just some unexpected news is all." (Note to self: become a better liar, you used to be able to keep a straight face)

He thinks about the wedding for weeks. The 1st of August rolls around. He doesn't go. He pleads off work several hours early and downs a bottle of Elderflower Wine. His eldest brother's getting married and wanted him there. Why didn't he go? He knows why he didn't go. He was wrong and if he goes and sees his family, he'll have to admit that. He throws out the empty bottle and goes to bed. He spends hours staring at the ceiling.

Things change.

He goes into work the next day and is greeted by the news that Minister Scrimgeour has retired and replaced himself with DMLE Head Pius Thicknesse. He frowns. _Odd_. Minister Scrimgeour isn't the type to abandon his duty. And he considered _this_ his duty, Percy is certain. He can't ponder the mystery long as Undersecretary Umbridge needs his help.

It takes him less than four hours to realise what's actually going on and to come to several conclusions. He knows that by this point it's too late for him to try anything overt. He needs to keep his head down. Even if he _burns_ with the injustice. _Mudblood_ is one of, if not _the_ _worst_, insult you can use in the wizarding world. And Umbridge is throwing it around like it's rice at a wedding (he winces at the thought of weddings, he hopes that his family is ok, this new government would have gone after them first).

He can't contact his family. This policy turnaround means that Thicknesse isn't himself anymore, probably under _Imperius_. Minister Scrimgeour is almost certainly dead. And Harry has been catapulted straight to the status of Undesirable No. 1. Hermione's a close second and he knows that the only reason Ron's not on the list is because their family is smart enough to come up with a cover story. There's no way they're not being watched.

But he hasn't spoken to his family in _years_. He knows he's _almost_ above suspicion. After all he never went back after it was revealed that Voldemort was back. He can make use of this. He doesn't know who to go to yet, but he knows that any possible allies he has will be suspicious of him if they're not already under heavy watch. No, he needs to do this himself. He makes a plan:

Step 1: find a list of all the new rules and regulations with every last detail included.

Step 2: memorise this information and use it to give reasons for sending information that could harm innocents back to sender (he _loves_ the intricacies of bureaucracy).

Step 3: try not to get caught and if you do move on to step 4.

Step 4: improvise?

He can _do_ this. He's a Weasley and a Prewett. _He can do this_. No more burying his head in the sand. He can't help his family, but he doesn't really need to – they can take care of themselves. He _can_ help those who can't do the same though. He's in a unique position to be able to do so, even. He'll do what he can. It won't be enough (it'll never be anywhere close to enough) but hopefully he can get some people to safety at least. Give them some warning.

He writes a letter, care of Oliver Wood. He knows who his brothers' friends are. And there's no reason anyone will be suspicious that he's writing to an old classmate. Especially not one that's also an amiable ex-boyfriend. Worst comes to worst he has the ready-made excuse that he's not over Oliver (he's been over Oliver for _years_, they were never serious, but luckily enough no one at the Ministry actually knows that. _Thank Merlin_ for his tendency to ignore the very idea of discussing life outside of work). He knows Bill will get his message. Even if it has to go through a few other people first. He needs to let people know what's going on and what he's going to do. People that will help him do _something_. He'll wait three days for a response. And then he'll get to work.

**. . .**

It happens overnight.

But Audrey wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing and she sees the writing on the wall long before the Ministry does a turnaround on its Voldemort policies.

She hasn't spoken to her parents in years, not since she finished Hogwarts and told her parents she was staying in the magical world rather than returning to the muggle one. Not since they found out she was dating her housemate, Tulip, and she realised that they would never fully accept a daughter that loves women in the same way she loves men (she and Tulip broke up more than four years ago, but they're still friends, and it changes nothing, she's still not straight). But for all that they haven't spoken, Audrey knows that they will be in danger, if they aren't already. They've rejected everything that she is, will probably never accept her completely. But they're still her parents, they raised her, they loved her, and in their own way, _they care_.

Amelia Bones gets murdered in a locked room (everyone knows You-Know-Who must have done it personally). She calls them up and tells them to move house. They don't listen.

There are three dementor attacks a county over from where she grew up. Igor Karkaroff's body is found abandoned in a shack north of Inverness. She goes back home for the first time since she left yelling at them for their bigotry. They refuse to let 'abnormal prejudiced bullies who think they're better than everyone else because they can make pretty lights' force them to leave their home. They don't listen when she tries to explain.

Three bridges are brought down across the UK in one week. Twenty-eight people die, all of them muggles (the _Prophet_ doesn't name any of them). She writes out eight plans to convince her parents to listen. She burns them all.

David Abbot's muggleborn wife is found dead in her own home (the Abbot family is _old,_ and their wards are impressive, Audrey is terrified by how easy it apparently was to kill her). Audrey moves out of her Ministry-owned building and moves into a muggle flat in Bristol under a fake name. She leaves no forwarding address. She doesn't connect to the Floo Network. Her _Daily Prophet_ subscription gets rerouted to her job in _Flourish & Blotts_ and her boss eyes her silently and says nothing.

Bonfire Night is marked by three mixed family homes going up in Fiendfyre. One of them belongs to a Ministry employee. Another is the residence of her old Head Boy from when she was a third year. The last is home to a St Mungo's healer. All of them have children under the age of eleven. There are no survivors. Audrey begs her parents to listen. They don't.

There are twelve werewolf attacks in December. Two on Christmas Eve, for all that the full moon had already passed. Not all of the victims survive. Those that do are all bitten. Audrey writes to the grandparents that stopped visiting after her fifth year (she suspects her parents had told them to stop coming) and asks to meet up. The five of them have a very nice Sunday lunch. Audrey doesn't tell them anything.

Two muggleborn shopkeepers, one in Monmouth and one in Dorchester, disappear. They aren't found. Audrey writes to all of her old year mates and everyone she was even _slightly_ friendly with. Far too many don't write back.

Florean Fortescue vanishes. Audrey cries. Then she fakes a year's free tour of the United States and sends it to her grandparents. They take it at face value and go. She hopes they like it there and don't come back.

Three muggleborns on the Alley get fired for no reason anyone can give other than blood status. Audrey wonders if this is what it was like before. She writes to Tulip, to Penny, to Chiara, to Ben, to Charlie. Tulip, Penny, Chiara, Charlie, and Tonks write back. Audrey doesn't think about the fact that she and Ben have exchanged letters faithfully since they finished school, and he has no reason to start giving her the silent treatment now. She doesn't think about the fact that she didn't write to Tonks at all. Audrey starts to think she doesn't _want_ to keep her head down.

The shop gets vandalised in the middle of the night. Her boss looks her dead in the eye and tells her this doesn't change anything. He's not going to fire her just because some idiots don't think she has the right to be in their world. Audrey might cry a little as she hugs him. She ups her home security and lays down extra wards (she thanks Merlin and God and any saint and deity she can think of that she took Arithmancy and Ancient Runes instead of Alchemy or Care of Magical Creatures).

The _Prophet _reports that a student has returned to school from St Mungos, fully recovered. They neglect to report what the ailment was (Audrey hears from Penny, who heard from Chiara, who heard from Merlin-knows-where that she'd been cursed while at Hogwarts and another student had been poisoned besides). She spends three days ruthlessly scrubbing her flat until it's sparkling and goes to try and convince her parents some more.

Dumbledore dies. Audrey doesn't go to the funeral. Instead, she apparates to her childhood home, tells her parents they're moving, even if she has to force them to, and begins packing the house.

The attacks increase. Audrey's parents still aren't speaking to her since she forced them to move into a house that Chiara had given her the address to (she doesn't ask questions; Chiara doesn't lie to her). This is nothing new, at least this way they're as safe as they're going to get. She writes to the friends that still write back. She buys as much parchment and ink as she can get away with. She quits her job.

Rufus Scrimgeour is replaced by Pius Thicknesse with absolutely no warning and the Muggleborn Registration Commission is announced. Audrey smuggles eighteen different genealogy books from the library in Diagon and gets a list of all of the students who finished Hogwarts in the last three decades (blood status included) from Tulip (Tulip doesn't ask why, tells her to be careful, kisses her like it's goodbye, makes no noise about whether she knows what Audrey's doing). She writes to Charlie.

Audrey Dunn never shows up to her hearing in mid-August. DMLE officials break into her flat the same day only to find out that she doesn't live there anymore and that she didn't even get the summons.

(Audrey Dunn hides in her flat in Bristol and starts drawing family trees and birth certificates and wills and inheritance documents. She doesn't ask Charlie who the names belong to. She doesn't ask about who else is forging papers. She just fills them out and sends them in under the names she writes in the blank spots.)

**. . .**

_**family **__n._

_pl. families_

_1 A group of people who are closely related to each other _

_2 A basic social group consisting of parents and their children_

_3 A group of individuals living under one roof_

_4 A group of things related by common characteristics_

**. . .**

It's the end of August and Snape's been announced as the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. Percy wants to snarl. He doesn't. Just barely, but he manages by the skin of his teeth (literally – he needs to bite his tongue until it bleeds to stop himself, but he manages it). Good little oblivious Junior Undersecretary Weasley doesn't know anything about what's going on in the background. He doesn't know anything about the Dark Lord or his people. Poor little Weasley just asks innocent questions. Isn't he sweet? The pet Weasley.

Percy knows what they think of him; he also actually needs the information. So, he asks about Professor McGonagall. It's no secret he was in Gryffindor. And anyone who went to school with him knows that Transfiguration was one of his favourite subjects. Still is, not that he uses it much in his position.

(Percy makes sure he doesn't think about all the nasty things he'd like to turn most of his bosses into these days – he has no way of knowing if or how many of them know Occlumency.)

(Note to self: practise Transfiguration when you have spare time – just in case)

**. . .**

Audrey wants to scream when she sees in the paper that Tonks sends her that the man who murdered Dumbledore will replace him as headmaster. She bites her tongue until it bleeds and apparates to Newport. She walks into Celtic Manor like she belongs there and makes small talk with Tonks while they wait for Penny, Chiara, Charlie, Talbott Winger and Andre Egwu to get there. She congratulates Tonks on her marriage in person, and on the baby she's expecting when she finds out about it. She doesn't ask why Tulip wasn't invited.

(Tulip, Ben, Rowan Khanna, Barnaby Lee, Jae Kim, Badeea Ali, Lizard Tuttle, Diego Caplan, Merula Snyde; these are all old friends of Tonks and Charlie (Audrey knows they're the ones behind this meeting) that weren't invited. She doesn't wonder why. Doesn't ask.)

She has a lot of questions. She doesn't ask any of them. She bitches about Snape being elected Headmaster when he can't even run a classroom properly instead. And about how Bristol is more expensive than Southampton was and how she has to walk everywhere because she doesn't have muggle cash or a decent bicycle. Tonks lets her and Audrey was never that close to her in school (not like she was with Tulip and Penny and Ben and Chiara and even Charlie) but might love her a little just for that.

**. . .**

_**question **__n._

_pl. questions_

_1 A sentence, phrase, or gesture that seeks information through a reply._

_2 A problem that tests a person's knowledge or ability_

_3 Any matter that needs to be dealt with or considered_

_4 Uncertainty or doubt_

**. . .**

It's the end of September.

Percy sees his father leaving the lift and forces himself to pretend he's oblivious. He can feel his father's sad eyes on his back (he knows that Bill hasn't told the rest of the family, as far as anyone other than Bill, Oliver, and Bill's new _wife_ (_Merlin_, it's still strange that Bill is married) are concerned, he's still licking the boots of whoever happens to be Prime Minister. It hurts that they think so little of him. He doesn't know where the resistance group (the one he's pretending that he doesn't know about) thinks Bill gets his information. He doesn't know if they know about Oliver. He hopes he survives long enough to tell his family that he's sorry and how much he loves them.

He sees Reggie Cattermole heading to Yaxley's office on his way to Dawlish's. He frowns because something about that seems wrong and then has to force himself not to do a violent double take. _Ron_. He's under Polyjuice and he's not doing a half bad job (and why the hell does the Ministry not have a countermeasure for that? He's very grateful right now but _seriously_? No wonder it fell) but he's Percy's little brother and Percy has known him his whole life, helped teach him to walk and how to throw gnomes and he accidentally taught him how to say "wanker" when they were five and nine after he'd heard Bill saying it to Charlie (he'd blamed the twins for that one).

Ron's his little brother and Percy would know him _anywhere_. Would know _any_ of his siblings any_where_ in _any _circumstances (he still has nightmares about what happened with Ginny when he was 16, he knew something was wrong and if he'd been more persistent then maybe he could have stopped it sooner, saved her some trauma). Percy will do _anything_ and _everything_ for his family. Especially now. After everything.

He's not Bill, smart, good at thinking on his feet, always got a plan.

He's not Charlie either, dangerous, determined, ready for whatever gets thrown at him.

He's Percy. So, he does things his way.

He casually makes a detour and wanders over to say 'hi' to Delilah Avery, the current Security Witch for Level Two. They have a slight flirtation going on

(Percy knows better than anyone the value of befriending the maintenance staff, the security workers, the background administrators. The ones that people never see if they do their job right. He knows better than anyone that they're the ones with all the power. It's how he gets away with the things _he's_ doing. No one ever bothers to look, and the people he's friendly with are always willing to do him a favour if he asks nicely).

They carry on a short conversation and he asks her to take a quick look at one of the parchments he keeps on him for just such occasions. (Note to self: follow up on the parchment or people will ask questions). While she's distracted, he sends a subtle freezing charm at the security activation mechanism. It won't hold for long once the mechanism's engaged, but it should delay the Ministry Lockdown for long enough for three (he's not stupid enough to think that Harry and Hermione aren't somewhere in the building if Ron is here, that's always how it works, one of them jumps in, the other two follow, no matter what) resourceful and determined witches or wizards to get the hell out. He hopes it's not necessary and that they have an escape plan. But just in case.

He takes care of his family. He protects them in his own way. (He very carefully doesn't think about the way he's made sure that any documents pertaining to his family or anyone he knows that they care about somehow make their way to the bottom of everyone's to do list. He suspects that Jacob Langdon over in Magical Law knows, and he's fairly certain that 'Lena Sumner knows too. But they're not saying anything so he's not going to address it)

**. . .**

It's November.

Audrey spends Bonfire Night on the Downs surrounded by several hundred people (most of them students) and wakes to an article in the paper detailing how a muggle village in Derbyshire was burned to the ground in the night when the Aurors _heroically_ tried to arrest several Undesirables but they used Fiendfyre to escape.

(Audrey hates the new Ministry, but she's got to admit that You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters have a fucking _twisted_ sense of humour and impeccable timing. The names Katie Bell and Dean Thomas aren't familiar to her, but she knows that Angelina Johnson was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Charlie's brothers and that Lee Jordan was the Quidditch Commentator the year she left. She knows that he's the person behind _Potterwatch_ and she listens religiously because she has practically nothing else to do other than write and draw.)

She sends her newest batch of forgeries to her DA contact whose name she doesn't know (she doesn't know what 'DA' stands for either but she knows better than to ask and doesn't get lied to in return) and starts work on the returned documents of one Jason Owens (she doesn't know who the hell keeps sending back her documents with petty issues and complaints about how the forms need to be filled out in _black_ ink Sir/Madam, not _blue_, but she finds she doesn't care and would quite like to shake their hand for obstructing the Ministry with its own bureaucracy, regardless of whether or not they're doing it on purpose), to be delivered 'as soon as possible Sir, we really need to schedule your hearing or else you'll have to wait until February'. The returns all have the same handwriting commenting on them, and Audrey is mostly alright with getting them, it means she's not alone in using bureaucracy to fight the Ministry Bureaucrats. But sometimes, when the complaint is ridiculously petty ('don't use arabic numerals, you must fill out your age using _words_') she fantasises about shoving their complaints down their throat or biting the hand that forms such beautifully neat letters. It's not _easy_ to make such well-forged documents. It really takes _a lot_ of _fucking_ work.

**. . .**

_**bureaucracy **__n._

_pl. bureaucracies_

_1 Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with nonelected officials_

_2 The departments and their officials as a group_

_3 The complicated rules, processes, and written work that make it hard to get something done_

_4 Administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine_

**. . .**

December comes.

Percy 'goes out for a drink' with Oliver, which is code for they're going to plan how to keep doing what they're doing without getting caught. He'd prefer to keep writing letters instead, but unfortunately Umbridge had noticed that he was writing to Oliver and 'encouraged' him to go out with the 'nice proper Quidditch player' so he could be in an approved relationship because 'the Ministry must lead by example'. _Ugh. Hag_. He was starting to see why the DA had hated her so much (so what if the only information he got on his family and their friends was second hand? He still got it didn't he?).

Oliver comes to the Ministry to meet him and Percy hugs him and kisses him on the cheek as soon as he sees him. Its more public than he'd be with anyone he's actually with, but since the whole point of this is to make his bosses think that he's trying to rekindle their relationship, the more people who see the better. He pretends he doesn't see his father stop in his tracks as he grabs Oliver's hand and they make a swift but casual exit.

They talk about nothing until Oliver slings a casual arm around his waist and apparates them to his flat in Weymouth. They pick up some takeaway (wizarding, _of course_) and continue to walk the rest of the way back, openly and without anything to hide. They don't relax until they get into his flat and are safely behind his wards.

"Do you reckon they bought it?"

"If I pretended to laugh at _one more_ of your ridiculous Quidditch jokes I would have done something drastic. They'd _better_ have bought it."

Oliver made an offended noise. "What's wrong with my Quidditch jokes? My jokes are fantastic. You just have terrible taste!"

"No, no he's right. Your Quidditch jokes are terrible." Marcus Flint took the box from Percy and indicated for him to sit at the coffee table in the main room. "I only laugh at them because I like seeing you smile."

If Percy hadn't already been warned by Oliver that Flint was hiding out here, he probably would have been shocked. As it is, he simply rolls his eyes at the blatant flirting and prays to Merlin that they're already together, because he doesn't have time to add 'fix the pining idiots' to his to do list.

"Food first, not so secret conversations about treason later?" Oliver asks like they aren't risking Azkaban just by mentioning it.

Percy and Flint hiss in unison and he takes a moment to appreciate that Oliver's newest boyfriend or crush or whatever has at least half a brain in his skull and is trying to keep Oliver from getting himself killed.

"Alright, alright. Pointless small talk now, mention the 't' word never then." Oliver says, rolling his eyes at them both like _they're_ the ones overreacting.

He and Flint exchange and exasperated look of 'why do we care about this idiot again?' and Percy has never felt so vindicated in his exasperation in his entire life. It's _great_. (Note to self: if Oliver and Flint aren't already together, get them together _as soon as possible_, and Oliver might not get himself killed before he's thirty and might not get _Percy_ killed out of stress and worry.)

Once they've finished eating Oliver hands him a stack of parchment.

Percy frowns.

"It's updates I've been getting about your family, the 't' word movement and a few miscellaneous others. Thought you'd like to read them."

Percy feels his whole face soften. Oliver might be obsessed with Quidditch to the point of ridicule but every so often he'll do something thoughtful like this and remind Percy _why_ they became such good friends in the first place. He glances at Marcus questioningly.

Marcus shrugs. "Don't look at me. As far as my family's concerned, I'm _finally_ expressing my teenage rebellion by trying to seduce my teammate into a _scandalous_ affair."

"You're twenty-two."

"Tell me about it."

"Marc doesn't want to be a Death Eater, but he can't just _tell_ his parents that and if he went on the run that would be a dead giveaway. As far as anyone outside the three of us and a few others who shall remain nameless are concerned he's living over in Bournemouth and spending weekends trying to _woo_ me."

"And what he's actually doing _is_?"

"I'm running information for other people in similar situations – their parents are supporters or neutral, they're old family purebloods, but they don't want in. I'm in contact with them – helpful that they're pretty much all in Slytherin and I've known them all for years – and I'm passing on information to Oliver, who's passing it on to _his_ friends whose names I don't know, although I'm assuming at least a few of them are Weasleys."

"Can I ask who?"

"Let's just say that about half of them are still in Hogwarts and helping out the 'misbehaving' students there. Another couple are in the BIQL and there's a couple in the Ministry."

"But no names. Smart."

(Note to self: run interference for Hogwarts communications to Umbridge and the MRC)

"All _I_ know is that at least one of them played Quidditch against me. Which isn't as much of a hint as you would think."

"Yes, yes, you play a lot of Quidditch. _We know_."

Percy hesitated, "I have something for you too."

Oliver perks up like it's already Yule and Percy has to suppress an eye roll.

He opens his satchel and retrieves the smuggled parchments and his own extensive notes.

"The Ministry is going to great lengths to try and prevent forgeries; they suspect that a great deal of those Witches and Wizards who were sent requests for documentation but _weren't_ brought before the Muggleborn Registration Commission faked their family trees."

Oliver and Flint share a worried look.

"You need to pass this information on to whoever is forging documents." He hands over the first scroll. "St Mungo's is being ordered to cast certain spells on all birth certificates in their possession and to contact every living person over the age of seventeen that they have birth certificates for, in order to determine whether or not they have children, and if so, to demand copies of _their_ birth certificates. If the Ministry cannot confirm the existence of a birth certificate under these conditions at St Mungo's, or in the case of a Witch or Wizard born abroad, with their government, the person will be arrested on accusation of forgery. All the details are in there.

"This parchment, is the new official MoM watermarked parchment for all official documents, once it's written on it cannot be duplicated, but before then it can be, provided the spell is cast silently and by someone with a token." Percy puts one of his spare tokens down on top of the parchment and continues. "If any kind of official order or transfer comes on parchment that _doesn't_ have this watermark, the person or persons handing it over will-"

"-be arrested?" Flint guesses.

Percy scowls at him. "Yes. They will." He pushes his glasses up his nose with one finger. "In addition to this, new measures have been brought in for the case that the forger or forgers unknown get their hands on some of this parchment." He pulls out one of his own forms from the bag. "See this mark here?"

Oliver tilts his head like a puppy. "It looks like a mistake."

"It isn't." Percy says grimly. "It's designed so that if anyone gets their hands on it, they assume it's a slip of the quill, but it's actually newly introduced that all official documents must have it. That way if someone unauthorised sees it then they will assume it's a mistake and not duplicate it-"

"-and so they'll get caught." Flint breathes. "That's genius."

Percy and Oliver glare at him.

"Terrible, _obviously_. But from a purely tactical standpoint this would instantly identify tons of forgeries if not for Weasel here."

"_Weasley_." Percy grits out.

"Right, Weasley. Sorry." Flint has the grace to look embarrassed.

"Point is, every document they forge that _isn't_ a hand in about family needs to have this on it. Done like so." Percy demonstrates on a spare scrap of parchment. "You should probably give your memory of this conversation to your forger. With my identity blurred out of course. It might be simpler than trying to explain."

Oliver gets a shifty look on his face. "I can't do that."

Flint and Percy share a glance. "But this is important. This could be the difference between rescuing people and getting caught and Kissed!"

Oliver shifts his weight. "The forgers I give my information to are muggleborn. They won't have access to a Pensieve and no way to get one."

"Well shit."

Flint grunts in agreement.

"Well I can't meet them, or I risk my cover."

"I haven't met them either. I relay the information to someone else, who relays it to them. Very few people in either the DA or the Order actually know the identity of the people who provide our documents. Security reasons."

"The Order?" Flint asks. It's probably the first he's heard of it, although Percy would be _very_ surprised if he didn't know about the DA. Especially given that some of his contacts are apparently working with them.

Both Oliver and Percy shoot him a look and he nods in acknowledgment.

Percy carefully stacks all of his notes and parchment. "This is everything I could get. The parchment needs to be duplicated as soon as, otherwise the anti-forgery enchantments will kick in, so I advise doing so the moment your forgers have it. These notes are as thorough as I can make them, diagrams and examples included. There're a few different sample documents in there that I was supposed to archive and can get away with missing for a week or so. Any longer than that and I could be in trouble. I've planted evidence against someone else, but I'd rather not risk it. Don't overuse this or they'll introduce more new security measures and the more they do the more likely I get caught and you lose your source, so be prudent about it. Think more like a Ravenclaw than a Hufflepuff." He fusses a little but stills when Oliver puts a hand on his knee.

"I get it. I'll hand over this memory, properly blurred, to my contact and make sure they understand the risks involved."

Percy exhales heavily. "Right. _Right_."

There's an awkward pause.

"We've got a match against the Wimbourne Wasps next week." Flint says. "You should come."

Percy shrugs, but acknowledges the subject change, "Yeah, I guess."

"_Come_. It'll solidify that you are wooing Oliver, it'll give me an excuse to spend more time with him and we'll all get a chance to breathe."

"Why are you doing this?" It's been bugging Percy since he found out that Flint was against the regime. It doesn't make sense. Flint was raised with the same beliefs as the Death Eaters, he spent his school career spouting the rhetoric and agreeing with those who expressed the same. Why would he turn his back on that? Why go against his family like this?

Flint is quiet for a moment. "There were twenty-nine muggleborns in the League last year. Those that haven't gone into hiding are in Azkaban or worse. Three of them were our teammates. When I was in seventh year – the first time – more than one muggleborn was petrified, including Penelope Clearwater. She tutored me in Charms even though she was younger. The year after that, Bell performed a flawless Dionysus Dive in the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. Blood status doesn't matter as far as ability is concerned. If that's true, then what are the Death Eaters really fighting for? Power? I don't care about that. I just want to play Quidditch. And who really cares where the other players come from as long as they can play? I don't."

Percy raises an eyebrow. "Fair enough."

They settle into a conversation about Quidditch and Percy manages to forget for a moment that they're at war against their own government. Almost.

He stays the night, teasing Oliver about the fact that Flint was going to be sleeping in his bedroom.

He goes into work the next day feeling ten times lighter and with a spring in his step. More than one person notices that he's in yesterday's robes and note the bruise on his throat where Flint had thrown a Quaffle at him when he insisted that the Holyhead Harpies were going to beat Puddlemere. He lets them assume it's a hickey. He still has work to do.

**. . .**

It's January.

Audrey's been working on the new regulations for weeks. She wants to kiss the Ministry informant that managed to produce watermarked parchment and detailed notes on the new failsafes. It makes Andre laugh, even as he has to excuse himself for training.

The handwriting is the same as the person who keeps sending back her lineages with petty complaints. She has to grin and resolves to fill out the next form in multicoloured ink and using a number grid transposal code, just to see what they do. It doesn't say that she can't in the instructions after all. And as far as anyone who cares is concerned, Diana Mathers is just getting annoyed at all the forms she needs to fill out (Audrey doesn't know anything about the _real_ Diana Mathers other than the bare facts about her muggleborn blood status and that she's in hiding, but she likes to think she's somewhat accurate in portraying her).

She finds out that her counterpart in the DA is also muggleborn, and underage to boot, when she has to be the one to duplicate parchments for them.

She meets Charlie's gorgeous sister-in-law (and might get a bit tongue-tied) when he and Tonks show up to a meeting with her in tow. She hides her amusement when half of the meeting is spent listening to Charlie complaining that one of his little brothers is dating a Puddlemere United Keeper. He seems to vary between being upset that his brother didn't tell them and upset that the Keeper ("who wouldn't have become Gryffindor Captain if not for me!") is 'defiling' his little brother. When Tonks gets fed up it takes one pointed comment about how his baby sister has dated half the DA to get him to shut up about it. Audrey won't admit that the whole conversation brightens her month and makes the New Year seem less bleak.

She forges documents for ten muggleborns to become half-bloods at least, with a few becoming Weasley or Prewett or Shafiq cousins for good measure. One bilingual muggleborn becomes a Delacour and is retroactively present at the Weasley-Delacour wedding.

She makes no less than twenty-three documents to allow DA and Order members (she still doesn't know what either of those things mean) to get past new security measures and prevent transfers.

Four of her documents make their way to her 'colleague' in the Muggleborn Registration Commission and manage to get nearly twenty muggleborns out of custody before they 'notice' and she's informed that several members of the Commission get fired for it. One even gets arrested for treason (she'd feel guilty, but he was helping persecute people like her for how they were born, and she'll give him no sympathy for that).

One of the waiters at her favourite Italian restaurant asks her out. She says yes but drops out of the date last minute when two squadrons of Aurors turn up out of nowhere and drag a Maths Professor at the University out of his office by his hair. He's a muggleborn that left the Wizarding World in the First War. She's met him before in passing, they go to the same café. The Aurors obliviate the staff and make them think he's taken time off before they disapparate with him. Audrey doesn't have to ask to know he dies by the next morning.

She extends her Grandparents' trip to the US to head into Canada for an additional six months.

She stops going to her regular places entirely and leaves the house for meetings with her contacts and food shopping only. She doesn't know how much longer she can do this. She doesn't know how they found him, but a quick internet search tells her that his wife has vanished too, and everyone thinks they went on an anniversary trip. She lets herself mourn for two days then sends three half-blood IDs to Tonks; one for her dad, one for a man named Dirk Cresswell and one for the Dean Thomas she'd heard about in November, whose age she's increased three years to make sure he's out of school. She hopes it makes a difference.

**. . .**

_**forgery **__n._

_pl. forgeries_

_1 The act of forging or faking something, especially a document or object for the purposes of fraud or deception_

_2 Something that has been forged, such as a document that has been copied or remade to look like the original_

_3 The crime of falsely making or altering a writing by which the legal rights or obligations of another person are apparently affected_

_4 The production of a spurious work that is claimed to be genuine, such as a coin, a painting, or the like_

**. . .**

February begins.

Oliver picks Percy up from his office three times a week and they pretend to be blissfully in love until Valentine's Day. The day afterwards they stage a very public argument about Marcus Flint, who conveniently turns up halfway through. No one suspects anything and the next week is marked by Oliver turning up to 'apologise', when in reality they're trying to cause as much of a scene and as much drama as possible to distract his colleagues from the miniature raids happening across the country.

Percy has doubts it will work until Marcus gives him tips on 'acting as dramatic as Draco is about Potter' and the staged argument attracts the attention of the entire Atrium and most of his colleagues. He gets advice from all corners, including both Umbridge and Yaxley. He resolves to never doubt Marcus about what will and will not distract people ever again (Note to self: make sure Oliver _marries_ Marcus and make sure he gets best man responsibilities). The whole floor gets involved in his love life and he gets advice varying from 'make him beg for forgiveness' to 'let Flint and Wood be together, can you imagine what a power couple they would be?'.

When he 'discovers' that someone has been using his distraction to perform raids, he of course informs Madam Umbridge and the Minister immediately. He's the good pet Weasley after all. He also frantically apologises for letting his love life drama get in the way of his work. They forgive him easily and commend him for spotting what the rest of the Department hasn't.

Percy stops being followed.

He accidentally runs into Bill when he goes into Gringotts to get some money (it's supposed to be his day off but apparently things have changed), he almost doesn't recognise him for a moment, and he has to stop himself from freaking out when he realises. Bill gives him a glance full of understanding and Percy barely makes it home before he cries. He calls into work and asks for a few days off because he's feeling under pressure and he doesn't know if he can do his job properly. Umbridge tells him, voice sickly sweet, that his mental health comes first of course, and he's horribly aware of the people following him when he apparates to Oliver's and has a breakdown on his doorstep. He spends the weekend drowning his sorrows in whatever alcohol Oliver and Marcus provide and they let him sleep it off before he has to go into work on Monday.

He knows Umbridge has been informed of what happened (and maybe it was only partly on purpose, but his brother was maimed and how did he miss that? What else has he missed?) when she gives him a smile full of false sympathy and asks if he wouldn't like more time off. Percy is the picture of a loyal employee when he tells her he'd actually quite like to get back to work to distract himself. She's sufficiently pleased and he promptly nicks a stack of fresh parchment out of the supply cupboard and copies three different files of planned raids the DMLE will be executing. Oliver comes to pick him up and he hands over the information that he stole with a fresh determination that he knows will fuel him for months. His family _will not_ be hurt by this regime any more. Percy will die before he lets that happen.

He lets Oliver and Marcus fake hickeys and bruises left by fingers before he leaves and the next day at work, when Travers makes a leering comment about him making up with the boyfriend, he lets a smug smile slip onto his face as he hides his thoughts about how badly he's screwing over the condescending bastard.

It's amazing what a terror regime will forgive when they think you're a stupid yet loyal minion. They don't bat an eye when he goes down to the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office (appearances must be kept), ostensibly to hand over a particularly tricky case of shrinking bridges that the Death Eaters masquerading as Aurors think is hilarious, but in reality to check on Dad and make sure that he hasn't missed anything about him too (he hasn't but Dad looks far older and sadder than he remembers. He doesn't try to talk to Percy, just looks at him longingly).

Percy starts praying – to Merlin, to Morgana, to Magic herself – he wants this to be over. He needs his family back. _O Merlin lend me your strength to see my path through. O Morgana lend me your cunning, that I may keep my family safe. Mother Magic please protect your children…_

**. . .**

It's March.

Charlie stops coming to meet ups without warning and Tonks is so pregnant she looks ready to burst. Chiara and Talbott become her primary contacts. Andre turns up every other week or so to crack jokes and try and get them to bet on Pride of Portree in the League.

She finds out from Chiara that Penny's running potions for the Order and the DA.

She finds out from Talbott that Charlie's branch of the Weasleys have pretty much all gone into hiding after the youngest son got caught with Harry Potter. This is News for a while and then settles into normality.

Andre brings the news one week that sweet, rule-following Diego Caplan has been running his own raids with Jae Kim since the autumn and that they've now become enough of an irritant that they've got prices on their heads and have been placed on the Undesirables List.

Next time she sees Tonks she finds out that Ben and Barnaby Lee are both dead, have been for months, killed by two of the Selwyns when Barnaby tried to get Ben to go on the run back in September. Hesitantly asking about Tulip reveals the news that she is, for once in her damn life, keeping her head down and not getting involved. Audrey is upset with the news that her ex is choosing _now _of all times to do so for all of thirty seconds before she remembers that her friend's whole family works in the Ministry and doing anything could put them in danger (Tulip has many faults, Audrey knows this. But for all her faults, she loves her family and her friends fiercely and would never do anything that could truly endanger them; she'll keep her head down because anything else could kill her family and that is something that she would not be able to forgive herself for).

The war is getting worse. Audrey wonders who else will die before its over. She wonders if it will be anyone else she knows.

She starts praying to saints she no longer believes in at night. _St George help protect your people who fight to protect your nation. St Jude give us hope for this cause that seems lost. St Michael grant us your strength_…

**. . .**

April is suddenly upon them.

Having given up on all other avenues, the DMLE pulls him in for questioning about his family.

No, he hasn't spoken to them, Sir.

No, Ma'am, he doesn't know where they could be.

No, he's sorry, Sir, the last one he heard from was Bill, he doesn't have a clue about Ron.

Yes, Ma'am of course he's telling them everything!

It takes three hours and Percy thanks Morgana that he's built up enough trust not to be questioned with Veritaserum. He sees Nanny and Grandad on the way out. It seems that Yaxley is finally desperate enough to haul in the Head of the Weasley Family and his wife, one of the last two surviving cousins of Arcturus Black. Nanny winks at him when he holds the door for her, and Grandad makes the hand sign for 'good luck' that he taught Percy years and years ago. (Note to self: teach Oliver and Marcus the basics of Grandad's hand signs so that they can communicate even when being watched)

It's not much, and Percy knows he can't contact them. Not now. But somehow that simple contact – a wink and the signed equivalent of a thumbs up – is enough. His family is safe. The Death Eaters won't find them. He can breathe.

The worst is yet to come. But for now, for now it is enough.

Percy prays that it will be over soon and that his family will make it out alive.

**. . .**

_**prayer **__n._

_pl. prayers_

_1 The activity of speaking to a god, higher power or object of worship_

_2 The words a person says when they speak to a god, higher power or object of worship_

_3 A fervent request_

_4 A negligible chance or hope_

**. . .**

May.

Percy is at Oliver's with him and Marcus when it happens (he spends more nights there than he doesn't these days). A patronus – Bill's – appears in the middle of the room and just says "It's happening _now_. Hogwarts, through the Hog's Head. Quick as you can."

There is dead silence for approximately ten seconds before all three of them spring into action.

Marcus heads for the fireplace, "I've got to tell my people. I'll see you there. Don't curse me, boys." He nods at them and he's gone.

Oliver grabs his broom and heads for the door, "I'm going to contact the team, everyone I can. We're going to need every wand we can get. Save me a couple." Without so much as a wave goodbye, Oliver's gone too.

Percy considers gathering allies for less than a second before disapparating from the front door. His family will be there on the front lines. He doesn't hesitate.

**. . .**

May.

Audrey gets the message from Tonks. She's elbow deep in parchment when a patronus – a wolf – appears in the doorway and says "If you want to fight, go to the Hog's Head. It's happening."

Chiara goes for the door, but Audrey stops her. "How many Death Eaters and supporters do you think will be there?"

"_All_ of them?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. They'll be taking the Dementors too."

Chiara looks at her. "What are you thinking?"

Audrey looks back, "Azkaban."

Chiara doesn't take long to decide. This battle could win or lose the war, but if the battle is lost then it will destroy huge swathes of the rebellion. Unless they find a way to get more allies. Like, say, imprisoned muggleborns and dissenters who are probably the _least_ guarded they've been in nearly a year. Audrey has been preparing for this possibility since Christmas. She grabs the documents and IDs that will get them past whoever is left at the front gates and transfigures her hoodie and jeans into official looking robes.

She and Chiara exchange a single look and disapparate. She may die in the process, but Audrey will make sure that those unjustly imprisoned in Azkaban get their freedom back. She doesn't hesitate.

**. . .**

It's the 5th before things settle down enough to mourn.

Percy lost his brother and could do nothing. Marcus lost three of his people. Oliver lost five of the Quidditch players he'd rallied for the battle. His family, collectively, lost friends, loved ones, and Fred. They nearly lost Harry too.

Percy doesn't even realise that Charlie's best friend, Tonks, is also among the fallen until he gets an invitation to her funeral. He remembers Tonks. She was always kind to him.

He doesn't manage to cry but he does collapse from exhaustion in hour thirty-eight after the battle and gets a telling off from a tearful George when he wakes up. He keeps pushing the limits, doing all the paperwork he can so that others don't have to, safeguarding records, rescinding arrest warrants, signing off on international aid. He only goes home when Shacklebolt forces him to, and even then, he doesn't go back to his flat. He splits his time between Oliver and Marc's sofa, George's spare camp bed, and Bill's guest room. He isn't ready to go back to the Burrow yet.

Percy manages to last until the night after Fred's funeral before he has the breakdown that's been coming on for nearly two weeks. Mum hugs him and he clings to her so tightly he doesn't know if he'll ever let go.

**. . .**

Audrey makes it to Hogwarts in time to help with the bodies. She doesn't quite manage to react to Chiara's scream of grief at the sight of Tonks and her husband, nor to the man who grabs Chiara tight and doesn't let her go when she cries herself to pieces. She helps with the dead in silence. Recording names, causes of death, and next of kin if she knows it.

Andre Egwu, conjunctivitis curse in the eye followed by a cutting curse to the throat (he never saw it coming), she doesn't know who his next of kin is (doesn't know anything about his family)

Colin Creevey (Merlin he's young. He was the other forger, wasn't he?), killing curse (unknown perpetrator), next of kin: Dennis Creevey (younger brother, even younger, they're just children)

David Nenci-Favero, killing curse in the back (they found him collapsed over Jae Kim, he was trying to help him apparently), next of kin: given his wedding ring she's going to assume his spouse

Fred Weasley (Charlie's younger brother, one of the twins), explosion, next of kin: George Weasley (the other twin, she can't imagine what he's feeling right now)

Jae Kim, knocked out by falling rubble and then trampled by the giants, unknown next of kin (she never knew him well enough to know anything about his personal life, only knows that he liked to cause trouble and had a knack for procuring hard-to-get items)

Lizard Tuttle, Acromantula venom (she killed eight of them before she was overwhelmed, held them off long enough that the Hospital Wing was safe), next of kin: Rubeus Hagrid (what about her family?)

Marta Bermúdez, organs liquified by some sort of curse, next of kin: unknown (she wears no wedding ring, has nothing that could identify her family, only a badge that says she works for Gringotts)

Penny Haywood, killed by Greyback (she was always terrified of him) when defending the back of a teenage Gryffindor student (said student is fighting for her life in St Mungo's as one of their critical cases, Greyback hadn't hesitated to attack her undefended back when he was done with Penny), next of kin: Beatrice Haywood (oh Merlin please let Bea have survived this)

Remus Lupin, unknown curse (eyewitness accounts say from Dolohov), next of kin: Tonks

**TONKS**, killed by her maternal aunt's killing curse, next of kin: Andromeda Tonks

She doesn't realise she's crying until Diego Caplan (good dueller, kind, close to Jae Kim) helps her to sit down on the rubble in the corner. He talks to her soothingly (he was always so good at that) until she can see through her tears.

"The baby?" she asks. She can't remember his name right at this second. He isn't even a month old yet. He's already an orphan.

"With Mrs Tonks and his godfather."

Audrey sniffles. "His godfather?"

"Yeah, Harry Potter, apparently she knew him pretty well, the little liar."

Audrey chokes on her laugh. "How did she manage to keep _that_ to herself? She's terrible about keeping secrets…" her voice trails off. "_Was_. She _was _terrible at keeping secrets. Can't be anything anymore." She bursts into a fresh wave of tears. "Godmother?" She manages to get out.

Diego shakes his head. "Penny." He says simply.

Audrey lets herself cry until she can't anymore. She continues to record the dead. Fifty in all. That's a nice round number. Splits a lot of ways.

She goes home and washes the dust and sweat and tears off. She has a missed call from her parents. She doesn't call back. (She wakes up crying in the middle of the night)

She goes through the next few weeks robotically. There are a lot of funerals. She goes to too many of them. She hugs Charlie Weasley when she sees him. He hugs her back tightly and she can feel him trembling.

Tonks' funeral is one of the best attended of all the ones that Audrey goes to. She doesn't talk to anyone. Tulip stands next to her and squeezes her hand but says nothing. Audrey understands. (She's fairly certain that Tulip was in love with Tonks, but she doesn't say a word) She doesn't attend the wake.

Chiara finds her the next day (she'd known Tonks' husband, had looked up to him, she had to watch _two_ people she loved get buried together, Audrey doesn't know how she's coping). She takes her outside and introduces her to the man who'd held her _that_ day (Matthew Rosier, Audrey notes, is very good looking despite the scars that mar his skin and so stoic it must be faked). Audrey lets them take her to the Chocolate House near the Cathedral. The chocolate helps.

**. . .**

_**death **__n._

_pl. deaths_

_1 The act of dying or the termination of life_

_2 The state of being dead_

_3 The cause of dying_

_4 The permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions_

_5 The personification of death, usually pictured as a skeleton in a black robe, holding a scythe_

**. . .**

By June the trials are well underway.

Percy talks until his throat is raw, then continues talking anyway. He's pleasantly surprised that he's not the only trusted staff member who was secretly spying on the corrupt Death Eater Administration, but given his position as Junior Undersecretary, he has evidence on nearly everyone. He knows who went along willingly, who did so out of fear, who was watched and why. He talks and talks and gives his testimony until he's not sure what he's saying is actually words but the Wizengamot (those members not wearing a Dark Mark or closely related or next of kin to a Death Eater anyway) and the People's Court keep nodding and accepting his testimony so he must be intelligible at least.

He no longer knows what day it is but when he has a break in the middle of the hearings (a woman named Tulip Karasu – Percy's fairly sure she was in Charlie's year – is testifying against her boss in Experimental Charms) he heads back to his desk to do more paperwork (Note to self: ask Kingsley to reassign you when hearings are over, being Junior Undersecretary _sucks_).

There's a woman standing in the centre of the office, clearly waiting for someone. Dirty blonde hair, muggle clothing, relaxed stance. She doesn't appear to be a threat, but Percy silently draws his wand anyway – can't be too careful. And if everyone's still being a little paranoid? Well they did just spend a year under a tyrannical, totalitarian government.

His foot scuffs the carpet and she whirls around, wand in hand. There's a moment where they both stare at each other, wands raised, before they both laugh a little and lower their wands. Everyone's still a _little_ on edge after all.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, actually I- sorry, are you related to Charlie Weasley? You're one of his brothers, aren't you?"

"I- yes. Percy, third eldest, next after Charlie – did you go to school together or…?"

"We were prefects together, I was Ravenclaw, he was Gryffindor. Sorry – that's not actually why I came here." She seems a little flustered, but Percy can hardly blame her. After all, if she'd been in this office dressed like she is just six weeks ago then she would have been arrested and thrown into Azkaban.

Percy walks over to his desk and pointedly puts his wand down on the surface. It's an empty gesture. He can have it raised and casting just as quickly as if it was still in his hand, but the action causes her to relax anyway.

She catches his expression and snorts. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm muggleborn, so being in this office is a little freaky for me still."

Percy shrugs, "Can't blame you. It makes _my _skin crawl and I've worked here for years, _and_ I'm a pureblood to boot."

"Yeah…"

"So, can I help you, Miss…?"

"Oh, Dunn. Audrey Dunn. Call me Audrey, I- I was actually looking for Charlie."

"For Charlie?" Percy can feel his eyebrows raising dramatically but he can't help it. "You were looking for him _here_?"

She sighs slightly. She seems to agree with him, and he wonders just how well she knows his brother. They must have been closer than just fellow prefects for her to know him well enough to agree that this is the last place he'd be. Most people see the prefect badge, the good N.E.W.T. scores, and the early finish to his school career and assume he'd be right at home in the Ministry. "I asked at the Visitor's Desk, they said to come here."

Percy pinches the bridge of his nose under his glasses, "Of course they did!"

"In all due fairness to the Security Wix, they looked rather overwhelmed. I wasn't the only person trying to get into the Ministry and I'm fairly sure Rita Skeeter was one of the people trying to get through."

Percy makes a face. "I'll talk to Sasha, remind them that there's more than one Weasley working in the Ministry, and at present that number is at an all time high, between Dad, Grandad, Ron, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny, not to mention _me_… I'm really not the first Weasley that should occur to them, but at present I _am_ the only one with a desk, that makes sense… I'm sorry, I've lost my train of thought. What did you need Charlie for? I might be able to help. Or at least pass on a message."

Percy ignores his burgeoning headache. He still has a testimony to give today and he doesn't need to look at his desk to know he has a mountain of paperwork.

"Are you sure? You seem a little… stressed."

"Do _I_?"

Audrey Dunn raises an eyebrow at his slightly – okay _very_ – strained response.

"My apologies. It's been a long month. And paperwork doesn't do itself."

"When did you last take a break?"

He stares at her blankly. "Now?"

"Right, that doesn't count. Come on." She marches towards him and grabs his wrist; he barely has time to grab his wand off the desk before she's dragging him towards the lifts.

"What are you _doing_? I have work to do! And you had something to ask Charlie!"

"Your work can wait. And _Charles_ can come and find me his-damn-self!"

"But I-"

"When did you last eat?" How rude. She didn't even let him finish!

"This morning, I think. Marcus shoved eggs on toast at Oliver and me before we left the flat."

"And what time was that?"

"Sev-en?" Percy knows he got into work at seven-thirty so seven seems like a good guess.

"_Seven_?!" Or not, given the way she's looking at him in disbelief.

"It might have been earlier" He quickly amends.

"It's nearly _four o'clock_!"

"I know…?"

She makes a noise that might be a scream of frustration. It's close enough to the noise that Penelope makes when the numbers in her Arithmancy aren't adding up that he feels safe guessing that.

She starts muttering angrily under her breath and he only manages to catch about every other word. "can't believe…problem with this…worse than _Tulip_…I was wrong!...never went _nine hours_…terrible and doesn't…but _working to death_…_Weasley_…keep happening…_cannot_ **believe** that-"

Percy doesn't want to interrupt (he knows better) but he _does _need to get back to his desk soon. "Where are we going?"

She stops mid-step, causing him to walk into her and nearly knock her over, luckily, she seems to be firmer on her feet than Rob Hilliard (the number of times Percy accidentally knocked him over when they were doing rounds is _unbelievable_), and doesn't fall. "_We_ are going to get some food since you apparently haven't eaten since _seven this morning_!"

He bites his lip." The Ministry Canteen is on Level Five, or there's a café on Level One that some staff members prefer to go to."

"Yes?" '_And?_' her tone seems to ask.

"This is Level Two."

She makes a face at him. "Why did you wait until now to tell me?" She doesn't wait for his answer and tows him back to the lift. Six siblings taught him a long time ago which questions were and were not rhetorical, so he holds his tongue.

"So, what do you do?" Her voice is oddly upbeat in comparison to her expression. Percy decides not to comment.

"I'm the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister." Once upon a time he would have puffed out his chest while he said it, these days its just a reminder of the recent past and all the terrible things that happened per authorisation of the Minister's Office.

"Oh." She manages to refrain from making the same expression that most people make when he tells them that, but Percy can see her struggling. "What's that like?"

"Terrible. There's tons of paperwork and you never get a break. I'm hoping to transfer once the trials are over and everything's settled down. Maybe back to DIMC or into GAS. Not MAaC or RaCoC though. I think I'd go spare!"

She nods like she has some clue what he's talking about. Percy very carefully does not let her see his amusement. He understands why the twins- why _George_ does this so often. It's _fun_.

"I hope that pans out for you." She says, sounding more like she's asking than telling him.

"_Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats._" The cool voice of the lift chimes.

"This is us." He tells her, unnecessarily.

"Good. I'm buying your food, in return you are going to eat it with no fuss, take a break until you absolutely _have_ to go back, and you're also to tell Charlie he's a prat from me. Got it?"

"Yes. Got it." Percy nods, trying not to pull a face. _What have I managed to get myself into?_ (Note to self: find out more about Audrey Dunn from Charlie, something about her is bugging him.)

**. . .**

By the time they reach June, Audrey is well and truly out of her depth.

Tonks and Penny are dead. So's Ben. Chiara and Charlie are mourning their own losses in addition to them. Tulip is busy with testimonies against her co-workers (and wasn't that a pleasant surprise – that she'd been working as an informant from within the Ministry). Audrey doesn't want to bother her – doesn't know if they're close enough to do so anymore. She knows she could talk to Talbott, that he'd get it. Hell, she could talk to Diego – he told her he'd be there if she needed to talk (_such _a Hufflepuff). But she can't, not really. Everyone else lost so much. She can't impose on that. And if all the paperwork and evidence Charlie keeps asking her for is a distraction? So what? It's _working_.

It's the second week of June when she cracks. Tuesday. She can't bear it anymore and she knows she could probably ask for help and whoever she asked would be happy to give it to her. But quite honestly, she'd like to just yell at Charlie. It's not fair, she knows that. But she needs to let out this _feeling_ or she's going to break. And Charlie can take it. She knows he can.

So, she marches into the Ministry and up to the visitor desk. The poor Wix looks slightly overwhelmed with all the people demanding his attention and Audrey could almost feel sorry for him. Almost. She's on a mission after all.

She takes advantage of the distraction provided by a blonde woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses that she's fairly certain is Rita Skeeter and just cuts in front.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Charlie Weasley." She puts her wand on the scale before anyone can protest.

The Wix doesn't even bother to check the wand slip, just hands it to her and says: "Level One, go to the end of the corridor, he's one of the desks in the antechamber outside the Minister's Office."

Before Audrey can ask for clarification one of the other visitors hip checks her out of the way. _Rude_.

She makes her way over to the lift. _Why is Charlie working out of the Minister's Office?_

By the time she exits the lift ("_Level One , Offices for the Minister for Magic and Support Staff, incorporating General Administrative Services, the Magical Maintenance Department, Ministry of Magic Public Information Services, and Department of Magical Education_"), she's worked up a proper head of steam and is getting ready to have a proper shout at Charlie. This lasts until she reaches the office she was directed to. There's nobody there and the whole floor seems empty even though she knows at least half of the offices she passed have people in them. She deflates. It's not Charlie she wants to yell at. It's Voldemort. It's the Death Eaters. It's the people who were too scared to speak up or act out against their bosses even when they knew what they were doing was wrong. It's the whole damn situation.

She forces herself to relax and just look around the office. It's good that Charlie's not here. He doesn't deserve to have her yelling at him. Not when he's gone from one of seven to one of six. Not when his best friend died and left behind an orphan son and one of his brothers barely reacts to anything anymore. Not when he's lost so much, gone through so much. Her experiences are nothing to his. she knows this and finally just lets go. She's still frustrated, she still needs to yell at something or somebody, but she's not likely to scream at someone for no reason or unload everything onto somebody innocent anymore.

She frowns. There are four (empty) desks in the antechamber she's standing in, bracketing a door that leads into the (also empty) Minister's Office. She counts them: Junior Undersecretary, Senior Undersecretary, Interdepartmental Liaison, Personal Assistant slash Gatekeeper to the Ministers Office. None of them bear the general marks of Charlie Weasley's presence. She's starting to think that the Wix in the Atrium had just heard the name "Weasley" and sent her off to be somebody else's problem.

There's a slight scuffing sound behind her and she whirls around, her wand appearing in her hand as she does. For a moment she just stares at the young man who's appeared in the entrance sometime in the last few minutes. They both have their wands raised. They both make a small sound of amusement before they lower their wands. Paranoia is only to be expected given the last year. After all, it's not paranoia if people really _are_ out to get you.

He's a couple of years younger than her, with red hair and freckles covering his face. His robes were probably neat this morning, as it is, they're all crumpled from a long day, and his horn-rimmed glasses sit slightly crookedly. He looks oddly familiar. Sort of the way that friend's relatives tend to – shared features and expressions but there are enough differences to confuse you about where you could possibly have met them.

"Can I help you?" he asks.

"Yeah, actually I-" she cuts herself off, it's bugging her, and his hair is the same shade as Charlie's, although his eyes are a striking blue colour, unlike Charlie's which are warm and brown. "Sorry, are you related Charlie Weasley?" _Such a stupid question_. She sighs. "You're one of his brothers, aren't you?"

"I- yes." He stumbles over his words. "Percy, third eldest, next after Charlie – did you go to school together or…?" he trails off, probably wondering how they know each other. He's less confident than Charlie is, she notes. But he makes the same gesture with his wand that Charlie always does when he's searching for words.

"We were prefects together," she puts him out of his misery (he's tapping his fingers against his robe lightly, it's a mannerism she's seen the eldest Weasley brother – Bill – do on one of the few occasions they'd met over the years, and that his wife apparently also picked up – she wonders how close Percy and Bill are for him to have picked up the anxious tic that Charlie has never once demonstrated) "I was Ravenclaw, he was Gryffindor. Sorry – that's not actually why I came here." She starts speaking more rapidly under his piercing gaze, uncomfortable with it, though unsure why. It doesn't help that he's still got his wand in his hand and she's excruciatingly aware that he's the brother that had spent the last year working in the Ministry (undercover, or so she's been told by Fleur, who came in lieu of Charlie to their first meeting after the battle), a Ministry that would have killed her if it could.

Percy Weasley walks over to the desk that Audrey had identified as that of the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister and exaggeratedly puts his wand down on it in what they both know is an empty gesture. Her traitorous body relaxes anyway. He makes a face.

Audrey can't help her snort at his incredulous expression, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm muggleborn, so being in this office is a little freaky for me still." She doesn't mention that she is more comfortable being the only one armed despite him being able to grab his wand a cast a spell in a heartbeat. He doesn't bring it up, unlike Charlie who would have, and she likes him better just for that. Instead he just shrugs.

"Can't blame you. It makes _my _skin crawl and I've worked here for years, _and_ I'm a pureblood to boot."

She doesn't really know what to say to that. "Yeah…"

He takes the hint and changes the subject (he's rapidly becoming her favourite Weasley, purely because unlike his two older brothers, he's willing to let things go and shows an iota of _tact_). "So, can I help you, Miss…?" He pauses and it takes her a moment to realise that he's waiting for her name.

"Oh, Dunn. Audrey Dunn. Call me Audrey, I- I was actually looking for Charlie."

Percy's eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "For Charlie?" His tone is incredulous, "You were looking for him _here_?" She wonders what it says about Charlie that she'd had the exact same thought less than fifteen minutes ago.

She sighs slightly helplessly in agreement. "I asked at the Visitor's Desk, they said to come here." Oh yeah, they _definitely_ just sent her off to be someone else's problem when they'd heard the word 'Weasley'.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, shifting his glasses so they hang more crookedly in the process. "Of course, they did!" He does _not_ sound happy.

She tries to defuse the situation. "In all due fairness to the Security Wix, they looked rather overwhelmed. I wasn't the only person trying to get into the Ministry and I'm fairly sure Rita Skeeter was one of the people trying to get through."

He grimaces. "I'll talk to Sasha, remind them that there's more than one Weasley working in the Ministry, and at present that number is at an all-time high, between Dad, Grandad, Ron, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny, not to mention _me_… I'm really not the first Weasley that should occur to them, but at present I _am_ the only one with a desk, that makes sense…" He's rambling. Dear Merlin, Percy Weasley is rambling. And its sort of adorable. Audrey mentally slaps herself and quickly tunes back in to what he's saying before he cottons on to the fact that she wasn't paying attention. "-did you need Charlie for? I might be able to help. Or at least pass on a message."

Audrey quietly exhales in relief that he hadn't noticed her preoccupation and suppresses a frown at the lines creasing his forehead. "Are you sure? You seem a little… stressed."

"Do _I_?" _Oh yeah, he's stressed_.

Audrey says nothing just raises her eyebrow and lets her expression do the talking.

His face turns chastised. "My apologies. It's been a long month. And paperwork doesn't do itself."

She nods in acknowledgement and asks, "When did you last take a break?"

He looks at her completely blankly. "Now?"

Is he asking her or telling her? And _now_? That hardly counts! Well, if no one else is going to force this idiot Weasley to take care of himself, she'll have to do it! So much for him not being like Charlie. Do hyper-focus and unhealthy working habits run in the family? She'll have to contact Fleur to check. Charlie is _not_ losing another brother on her watch. Especially not to something as stupid as overworking.

"Right, that doesn't count. Come on." She marches towards him, grabs his wrist, and starts dragging him back towards the lifts.

He blabbers something about work and Charlie, but Audrey isn't listening, she's looking to see if there's some kind of café or canteen on this floor. She tells him something about work waiting and that Charlie can come and find her.

They get to the lift without Audrey spotting anywhere they can eat save what looks like a staff room with a ridiculously high pile of dirty mugs which she doesn't even consider for a moment.

"But I-" Is he still protesting? Fine.

"When did you last eat?" she interrupts.

"This morning, I think. Marcus shoved eggs on toast at Oliver and me before we left the flat." _This morning!_ Audrey wonders how this man hasn't yet starved to death, and here she was thinking that Charlie was an _exception_ with his obsessive tendencies.

"And what time was that?" Audrey's hoping for something reasonable like nine or ten, he probably got in later and that's why he's forgotten to eat.

"Sev-en?" _Or not_. He's clearly not actually all that sure on what time it was that he ate.

"_Seven?!_" She really hopes it was later than that!

"It might have been earlier."

Earlier? _Earlier_? Is he trying to kill himself with work? "It's nearly _four o'clock_!"

"I know…?" He knows? So, he's not even trying to take care of himself!

She suppresses a _scream _of frustration and hopes that Level Two ("_Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services._") has somewhere to eat. She starts muttering under her breath about how she's always making friends with people who don't take care of themselves. "I can't believe that he doesn't see a problem with this kind of behaviour! I never thought I'd meet someone worse than _Tulip_ when she's prank planning, guess I was wrong! I thought _she_ was bad, but at least _she_ never went _nine hours_ without eating! This is terrible and doesn't make me have _more_ faith in the new government, this one's not killing people like the old one was but _working to death_ is not a good alternative! What is with people with the surname _Weasley_?! Why does this keep happening to me?! I _cannot_ **believe** that-" she gets abruptly cut off when Percy meekly interrupts her.

"Where are we going?"

She stops mid-step. He actually has to _ask_ that question?

"_We_ are going to get some food since you apparently haven't eaten since _seven this morning_!" she tries not to snap at him but isn't sure how well she does.

He bites his lip. Audrey ignores the way her eyes immediately fixate on the action. He's _not_ adorable. He's really _fucking_ annoying! Bloody Weasleys!

"The Ministry Canteen is on Level Five, or there's a café on Level One that some staff members prefer to go to." His voice is still meek, like he doesn't want to make her any more mad than she already is. She wonders if she really comes across as that intimidating.

"Yes?" She's slightly confused, she hadn't spotted the café on Level One but its probably one of those 'employee only' places and well-hidden so outsiders don't use it.

"This is Level Two."

_Right, so it is_. They're more than halfway across the floor now and Audrey makes a face. "Why did you wait until now to tell me?" she wonders aloud. Why didn't he tell her in the lift? She starts to tow him back when no answer is forthcoming. She decides to change the subject to something else. "So, what do you do?"

"I'm the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister." He says. He doesn't sound proud of it, which is odd because for someone only about five years out of school it's a very prestigious position. Then again, this last year _would _put a damper on any kind of pride he might have once felt.

"Oh." She doesn't look at him with pity and manages to refrain from making a comment that he would take the wrong way. "What's that like?" _Stupid, couldn't ask him something else_?

"Terrible. There's tons of paperwork and you never get a break. I'm hoping to transfer once the trials are over and everything's settled down. Maybe back to DIMC or into GAS. Not MAaC or RaCoC though. I think I'd go spare!" He sounds like he's been wanting to say this for a while, so she lets him get it all out, but honestly? She doesn't have the faintest clue what any of those acronyms stand for.

"I hope that pans out for you." She's fairly certain that's the right response but doesn't have time to see if it is or isn't since at that moment the lift doors open ("_Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats._")

"This is us." Percy says. Its slightly unnecessary but kind of sweet. Audrey mentally banishes the thought.

"Good. I'm buying your food, in return you are going to eat it with no fuss, take a break until you absolutely _have_ to go back, and you're also to tell Charlie he's a prat from me. Got it?" She adds the last part because she wants to see what his response is, and he doesn't disappoint.

"Yes. Got it." He's trying _really_ hard not to pull a face, but Audrey's got the advantage of over a decade of friendship with Charlie Weasley and they apparently have the same tells (Audrey should totally study this, things that siblings share like tics and expressions and where they get it from).

She wins though. He eats the whole meal she buys, and she manages to keep him on the break for nearly an hour. _Success_!

**. . .**

_**office **__n._

_pl. offices _

_1 A place in which business, clerical, or professional activities are conducted_

_2 A room or a part of a building where people work sitting at desks_

_3 A department of an organization where people deal with a particular kind of administrative work_

_4 A position of authority and responsibility in a government or other organization_

**. . .**

Within a few weeks Percy and Audrey are eating together nearly every day as she comes to the office to find him and drags him out for a break if he's there. She's crazy smart and he doesn't realise how funny she is until a couple of weeks in, when she makes him laugh so hard that he snorts his Butterbeer out of his nose. Normally he'd be horribly embarrassed about doing something like that in front of someone, but for some reason, when it's her, he's not.

She always wears muggle clothes. He doesn't ask why and doesn't question it either. She's not the only person doing so. And not everyone doing it is muggleborn either, although the vast majority are.

They take turns in paying but she makes a rule that if he goes more than six to seven hours without eating then she gets to order his food and pays for everything. He'll deny it with his dying breath, but this tactic actually works on him. He starts keeping snacks in his desk and picking up sandwiches when he goes for a coffee. Before he knows it, he's on a healthy eating schedule and he doesn't realise until he's home one weekend and Mum comments on how much better he's looking. She looks relieved and Percy feels slightly guilty, they're all horribly worried about George and the thought that he's been causing her additional worry is horrible. (Note to self: see if there's anyone who can trick George into taking care of himself like Audrey did for him) Things aren't better but they're not terrible either.

He's starting to look forward to work and to taking breaks and he knows it's because of her.

One day he sees the light catch her hair and the thought crosses his mind before he realises it. _Beautiful_.

June turns into July which turns into August. He and Audrey are meeting for lunch or tea nearly every single day. She's working at _Flourish & Blotts_, a job that she'd quit when the war was starting, and the first time he goes to pick her up, the old man who runs the place eyes him with suspicion and tells him he's watching him. Percy is very confused.

The trials finish in time for the new school year, and the repairs for Hogwarts are finally done too. Ginny goes back to school. Ron doesn't and joins the Auror department instead after studying for his N.E.W.T.s in every spare moment the whole summer. Percy hands in his resignation to Kingsley who wishes him luck and writes him a glowing reference, not that he needs it. Percy has an Order of Merlin for fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts and exemplary service to the Wizarding World. His name has been in the paper every week since, either in connection to his family or to the trials. Everyone knows who he is. He won't want for work.

He officially moves into Oliver and Marc's spare room and gives them plenty of shit for finally making their relationship official. They tell him to fuck off a lot. He helps out in WWW as often as he can and splits the rest of his time between each of his siblings and his parents. He learned the hard way that family is more important than anything else, _especially_ pride.

(Sometimes he can't breathe for how much he misses Fred. He goes into the shop and only sees one twin and has to stop himself from gasping at the stab to his heart. George's missing ear no longer surprises him, although it had rattled him to his core the first time he'd seen it.)

He has lunch with Nanny and Grandad one week and when they go into the bookshop, he spends nearly his entire time talking to Audrey and when they leave Nanny asks him so many questions that he feels like he's being interrogated. He doesn't understand why she's so interested in his friendship with Audrey.

He invites Audrey to lunch as often as he can, and she beams at him every time he organises it instead of her forcing him to eat. After the first couple of weeks Charlie and her friends Chiara and Talbott invite themselves to lunch. Audrey scowls at them when they do, but Percy finds them fascinating. Talbott Winger became an Animagus as a _child_ and he has _so many questions_. He almost doesn't notice Audrey and Charlie sharing a fond smile as he fires question after question at their friends. It makes his chest feel warm and he spends the rest of the day walking on air.

Audrey starts coming into the shop during her coffee breaks and he's pleased that she and George seem to get along pretty well. George still isn't doing well but he's doing _better_. He eats without being prompted now. And it only takes five minutes rather than an hour to get him to get out of bed. He still pauses in the middle of his jokes like he's waiting for someone to tell the punchline, and he's always glancing to the side to share something only to stop when he realises there's no one there. Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson are at the job as much if not more than Percy is and between them, they're bullying George into getting better. He hopes. Percy doesn't question it, but he's pleased, nonetheless. If he still looks for Fred too often, when he forgets, well, he's not about to tell that to George.

Penelope runs into Audrey at the bookshop and tells Percy that she thinks she's very nice and asks if he'll invite her to the next get-together she holds. Percy's confused for a minute because those get-togethers are for _them_ and the only people outside of their year that normally come are partners or lovers, but he brushes it off. He hasn't been to any for over two years and she's probably just eager to see him again.

He meets Audrey's friend Diego not long afterwards and he's friendly, if a little odd. Percy doesn't understand why he feels the need to emphasise how much he _cares_ about his _dear friend_ Audrey, but everyone has their quirks (Audrey has a piece of hair that always falls out from behind her ear and she always twists it around her finger twice before tucking it back. She always stirs her tea three times before she drinks it and alternates once clockwise and once anti-clockwise and back to clockwise when she does. She snorts slightly when she laughs. And she always wears something blue, whether it's a jumper, her socks, or even just her bobble, she told him that it makes her feel connected to her House. Her smile makes her whole face light up. And she always hides her mouth behind her cup or glass when he's said something that surprises her into smiling.).

He invites her over to the flat one night for take-away instead of lunch at a restaurant and they spend the whole evening until Oliver and Marc come home from their date playing cards (Note to self: Audrey is card shark, never play against her for money). He loses nearly every time, but he enjoys himself anyway. They start asking after Audrey all the time, with amused smiles on their faces and Percy wants to know what _that's_ all about. They refuse to tell him, although Oliver starts giggling and doesn't stop until Marc shoves cake down his throat.

They've been friends for months the first time she sees his handwriting, and she just raises her voice at him in incredulity. "_What?! You're_ Petty Paper-pusher?"

It takes her several minutes to calm down enough to explain that she'd been the person that he'd constantly sent back documentation to, complete with petty complaints about how she'd filled them out. This is how he finds out that _he's_ the person that alternately annoyed and delighted her during the war (She'd had complaints. Many of them.)

She invites him to Bristol for Bonfire Night, and he spends the evening with her watching fireworks explode across the sky, happy with the fact that there aren't any Death Eaters using the holiday to burn unwary people alive. At one point he looks at her slightly pink face and the way she clutches her cup of hot chocolate and just wonders how anyone can be so perfect. _Oh. Oh no_.

He spends November alternately avoiding Audrey and spending every spare minute in her company, before running to Bill and asking him _what the hell he's supposed to do_. He's in love with his friend! That he spends all this time with. _Bill stop laughing, what do I do_?

**. . .**

Audrey comes to Percy's Office again the week after the first time she drags him out for food. She starts going more and more often, at first, it's because she's trying to trick him into eating, but before long it's because she genuinely enjoys his company. Soon she's seeing him nearly every day and every time she spots something about him that's even more adorable. She makes him laugh so hard he snorts his drink out of his nose and she has to suppress her own laughter at his face. He's lovely, and she can't help but wish that some of her exes could have been more like him. The second she has the thought, she banishes it. _No. You will _not_ start fancying Charlie's little brother_. She's very stern with herself.

His robes always start the day neatly, but they're always creased by the time she collects him for lunch. She doesn't think he notices how he fiddles with his robes or tugs at them whenever he feels self-conscious or embarrassed. He fiddles with his glasses sometimes too, but mostly he just pushes them back up his nose, as they have a tendency to slip when he's feeling enthusiastic.

When she realises that she's managed to get him to have a healthy eating schedule, she's absurdly proud of herself, and she only worries for a couple of days that this will bring an end to their lunch dates before she realises that it won't. She goes back to her job at _Flourish & Blotts_ but keeps the flat in Bristol. She looks forward to her lunch break every day and her boss notices and asks who the lucky person is. She's more embarrassed than she'll ever admit about the fact that she talks about Percy for thirty minutes straight.

By the time August rolls around, Audrey knows that she's so far gone on Percy that it isn't even funny, especially since they've only known each other for six weeks (six weeks of lunch or tea nearly every day and she feels lighter than she has in _years_).

She reaches out to Tulip, hoping to rekindle their friendship that had died sometime in the last eighteen months (she's always told Tulip when she's had feelings for people, it feels strange not to be able to now). They meet up a few times, but things are strained and awkward and it nearly breaks Audrey's heart all over again when she realises that her friendship with Tulip was another casualty of the war. They'll never be closer than acquaintances again. Too much has happened, and the war changed everyone. She goes to Charlie and he lets her cry all over him without asking why.

Audrey goes to Percy after work one day and tells him about the nights she wakes up convinced that the Snatchers have found her, and how she can never let herself fall back asleep. He tells her about his nightmares of his family dying, again and again, and of it being his fault because he didn't warn them in time. They go back to her place and she opens a bottle of Elderflower Wine and they take turns drinking straight from the bottle and confessing their fears and nightmares and darkest wishes during the last year.

September brings sudden morning cold snaps, the end of the trials, and the reopening of Hogwarts. Audrey goes to the reopening ceremony and stands shoulder to shoulder with Chiara and Talbott, Diego somewhere nearby with Charlie. When she sees the memorial that's been erected by the lake, a twin to the one that's being built in the Ministry Atrium, she nearly cries. They raise their wands to the dead and Professor McGonagall opens the new school year with a speech that moves nearly everyone to tears. The five of them go to the Three Broomsticks afterwards and Madam Rosmerta gives them drinks on the house. They'd all fought in the war. (Most people don't know about what Chiara and Audrey did, that day in the North Sea, but there are nearly fifty innocents that are free of Azkaban because of them and they both got Orders of Merlin to prove it. She's glad that people don't know. Glad that Madam Rosmerta doesn't ask.)

She tells Percy about what she did in the war. About forging and writing and hoping that every time she met her friends it wouldn't be bad news. She tells him about the University Professor dragged out of his office, and hearing about how Ben Copper had died at the hands of Death Eaters. He tells her about working in the Ministry and earning the trust to get other people blamed when he stole parchments and misfiled documents. She realises that he's the saboteur that produced the Watermarked parchment back in the winter and she has to force herself not to kiss him.

He tells her about how sometimes he forgets about Fred and looks for him. About how he sometimes can't look at George whilst talking to him and hates himself for it. She tells him about how she still starts writing letters to Tonks and Ben, and how she'd turned up to her regular meeting with Andre the other day before remembering.

She finds out that he's as big a fan of Quidditch as his brothers, he just hides it better. They get into a spirited debate about who the best team in the league is and the way his eyes light up is magical. She defends the Caerphilly Catapults viciously and finds out that two of Percy's friends are a chaser and a keep respectively for Puddlemere United, which has nothing to do with why he supports the team (or so he claims). She teases him about it for ages and he returns with the number of times that they've defeated the Catapults. She pouts at him and he grins. She melts slightly from the happiness in it.

He tells her about moving in with Oliver and Marcus (Oliver _Wood_ and Marcus _Flint_, actual players for Puddlemere United!) and the trials of living with a couple. She responds with ridiculous things that have happened in the bookshop over the last week.

She meets his grandparents one week when they all come in browsing and catches his grandmother interrogating him when they leave. (She hides the blush at the thought that they think she means something to him.)

He invites her to lunch multiple times per week and she can't stop herself from lighting up every damn time. She finally cracks and confesses to Chiara, who immediately calls Charlie, Talbott, and Diego. Audrey wants to be mad, but she can't help but have fun. Especially after Charlie figures out exactly who it is she fancies, at which point they need to sit on him to get him to stay. He ends up torn between whose side he should be taking in this endeavour, little brother or female best friend. She and Chiara _immediately_ begin hitting him with pillows for the rampant sexism after he confirms that he wouldn't feel the same way with a male friend and he finally surrenders and apologises. They don't let him clean off the feathers though.

When Charlie shows up to lunch one day, she wants to be mad, but can't be when she sees how happy Percy is to spend time with his brother. When Chiara and Talbott turn up she's less pleased. When Percy begins interrogating them, she can't help but share a smile with Charlie. _Merlin, this man is wonderful_. Percy always wants to learn, he's the most curious and inquisitive person she's ever met, and she thinks he should have been in Ravenclaw. He's so wonderfully Gryffindor in his methods though, that she can't help the smile that steals across her face every time he starts aggressively hunting for knowledge.

Soon she wants to spend more and more time with him and starts going to WWW in her coffee breaks when she knows he's working. His younger brother has one of the most incredible minds that she's ever met, and he invented nearly everything in the shop himself (with his late twin brother, he doesn't need to say and if it stings for her, it must be agonising for him, so she quickly moves past the subject). She likes George and starts teasing Percy with him, because she hadn't realised how fun it was. Percy teases her right back, and they always end up buying each other lunch to apologise if it goes too far.

Diego tells her he's met Percy a couple of weeks later and she wants to hiss at him but can't help her sigh when he tells her that Percy is completely oblivious. She's falling in love with this moron, and he doesn't even know it. Diego takes her out for drinks.

Percy invites her to his place one evening and she jumps at the chance, she picks up all of his favourites and introduces him to muggle card games that he didn't already know how to play. He beats her every time at exploding snap (she blames growing up with so many siblings willing and able to blow things up – she doesn't have those reflexes so she cries foul and he laughs at her), but he's terrible at any game that doesn't require quick reflexes. She beats him at UNO twice, Poker three times, and Go Fish four times. They play War twice and he manages to beat her once. She tries to introduce him to Rummy, but he's somehow worse at it than all of the other games combined and after she obliterates him, they agree not to try again. They're playing Strip Jack Naked when his housemates come home, and they walk in to the unfortunate sentence "You're stripping me _bare_!" She's horribly embarrassed and she's fairly sure they're laughing at her, but she has a good time regardless and almost doesn't want to leave.

It's been months by the time she sees his handwriting and she realises _he's_ the Petty Paper-pusher that had made her beam and want to throttle him in turns. They have a long and entertaining afternoon when they figure it out and Audrey _never_ admits that she loves his handwriting. She gives him endless shit for his petty complaints, and he retorts right back with the times she'd filled out forms in code and he'd had to decipher it before sending them back.

She doesn't hesitate to invite him to the Bonfire Night celebration and when he turns up wrapped up warm, with his red nose peeking out over the top of his matching Gryffindor scarf and hat she has to stop herself from awwwing at the sight. She insists they mix and match so that he's wearing her Ravenclaw scarf and one of her (enlarged) mittens, while she wears the corresponding glove and a scarf that smells exactly like him. She makes them hot chocolate to bring to the fireworks and has the best evening she's had in what feels like years. It's enough to almost forget the war, it's just the two of them, surrounded by strangers, walking around the Bonfire and watching the fireworks.

He avoids her after that, and she doesn't know why. He oscillates wildly between following her around like a puppy and resorting to sprinting into the back room when she comes into the shop in an effort to avoid her. It makes her heart hurt and by the time December starts she's had enough. She turns up on his doorstep, furious, and she must look it too, because Marcus Flint takes one look at her and drags his boyfriend out to the shops. She yells at Percy while he's sitting on the sofa. He looks like a kicked puppy and she refuses to let it bother her. He waits until she's done before he apologises and gives her an advent calendar.

She nearly tears up on the spot. Her parents had made a tradition of giving her an advent calendar every December until the year she'd walked out. They had given her one the year she'd tried to reconcile but nothing last year or this year either. The fact that Percy remembered this from the time she'd told him in passing and then went out to get her one, even though he celebrated Yule and not Christmas makes her heart melt. She accepts his apology immediately and things go back to normal almost as quickly. She starts to ask why he was avoiding her once, sees the heartbreak on his face and avoids the topic.

He invites her to the Weasley Yule Party after the holidays start. She meets the two Weasley siblings she has yet to meet, _Harry Potter_, _Neville Longbottom_, and about fifty other war heroes that she had apparently unknowingly worked with during the war. It's a head rush but she's having a great time, and then she and Percy end up trapped under the mistletoe. She doesn't even need to look to know that Charlie's giving her a shit-eating grin and was probably responsible for it. She looks at Percy and he looks as embarrassed as she feels.

"We don't have to kiss, you know." She says, giving him an out if he wants it. "If you don't want to you can just kiss my cheek and I'll do the same."

He swallows audibly. "No, no I want to." His voice is hoarse, and his eyes are darting between her eyes and her lips. "That's if you're ok with it?"

George shouts "Just kiss already!" in the background, but Audrey's heart is beating so loud she can barely hear anything else.

"We're idiots." She tells him.

He looks at her quizzically, but she just grins up at him and uses his jumper to drag his face down to her height.

"I would very much like to kiss you." She whispers and accidentally nudges his nose with hers, before bumping her face on his glasses. They both laugh slightly before he moves them around and wraps his arm around her waist. He uses the other hand to cup her cheek.

"I'd very much like to kiss you too, Miss Dunn." His voice is the prim tone that she's used to but he's grinning widely like he can't believe he's this lucky.

She shuts her eyes and tilts her face even closer. "Then do it already, _Mr Weasley_."

He does.

There's a lot of wolf-whistling in the background.

She doesn't notice.

Neither does he.

**. . .**

_**lunch **__n._

_pl. lunches_

_1 A meal that you have in the middle of the day_

_2 The food provided for a midday meal_

**. . .**

"_It's a revolution, after all your tears have turned to rage_

…

_People like us, we've gotta stick together_

_Keep your head up nothing lasts forever" _

"_People Like Us" – Kelly Clarkson_

**. . .**

* * *

**_phew_ that was long. It was supposed to be maybe 10k words max and ended up being almost twice that. I had a lot of fun showing how Percy and Audrey were working together in a lot of ways they didn't realise at the time. **

**For those of you that have read Bill's story, yes it is *that* David and Marta. I have a document floating around with the names and details of all of the Fallen Fifty and everyone related to a Black/Weasley/OotP/DA/Potter that died in the Second War (the First War is an entirely separate document).**

**If you're interested in what the rest of the HPHM crew that weren't mentioned was doing during the year:**

**-Badeea Ali: Left Britain after she finished school and hasn't been seen since**

**-Liz Tuttle (only mentioned after she died so I'm counting it):Stayed near Hogwarts and acted as the stand in groundskeeper after Hagrid was forced to run. Secretly supported the students when they needed her help**

**-Rowan Khanna: Abroad since Triwizard Tournament, ostensibly learning wandcraft, but in reality, hiding siblings away from Death Eaters**

**-Merula Snyde: Abroad, officially 'recruiting' for DEs but Tonks' sources place her near Khanna and share that she is apparently having little success.**

**Also Septimus and Cedrella Weasley are total badasses and most of the Ministry is too scared to try and piss them off.**

**If you have any questions, want to talk about my headcanons, or just want to chat, come and scream at me on tumblr under the same name**


End file.
